Demolition of road divider triggers stir in Nurpur Bedi

Tribune News Service

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Ropar, January 19

Tension prevailed in Nurpur Bedi as a road divider being constructed on the main road was demolished allegedly at the behest of Punjab Youth Congress (YC) president Brinder Singh Dhillon who reached the spot with his supporters, on Saturday evening. Following the demolition, local residents held a protest against him.

Sanjiv Kumar Bansal, husband of Nurpur Bedi Sarpanch Manjit Kaur, alleged that Dhillon, who was along with his security staff and supporters, threatened the labourers at work and forced them to demolish the divider.

Notably, a few days ago, work on the divider was halted after shopkeepers of the market situated on both sides of the road expressed apprehensions of losses due to it. A delegation of shopkeepers met Ropar Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sumeet Jarangal and told him that after the construction of the divider, there would be no space to park vehicles on the road which would discourage people to visit the market. On the other hand, residents were in favour of the construction contending that the divider would help in regulating the flow of traffic and in reducing accidents.

In order to allay the fears of shopkeepers, the DC had proposed to allocate a piece of land in the middle of the market for parking. Following this, the work had resumed yesterday.

However, around 5 pm, Dhillon and his supporters reached the spot and a part of the divider that was constructed yesterday was demolished. This enraged local residents, who gheraoed his car for two hours, after which his driver managed to take him out of the area. The pilot jeep of Dhillon, however, was not allowed to leave by protesters, following which he returned to the spot.

Heavy police force was rushed to the spot and the Youth Congress chief and his security personnel were escorted to a safer place.

Following this incident, the villagers lodged a complaint against Dhillon with the local police.

Dhillon, however, denied his role in the demolition.